5 faith-filled things to start this Lent
For Christians, Lent is a time of sacrifice. A time of going without or giving something up in order to focus on the Lord ahead of Easter. The Bible tells us Jesus went 40 days in the wilderness without food to spend time with God, and as Christians we can also look at how to work from this model to be more open to what the Lord is saying to us. Just as Jesus gave up everything for us at the cross, we can also sacrifice something in return. But sometimes there are practical reasons why we can’t give up certain things. Instead, we can look at what we can start this Lent – use Lent to start something new, something positive to grow closer to God.
Here are five things you could start this Lent.
Start daily devotionals
Now is a great time to get into the habit of reading the Bible on a daily basis or doing a daily devotional or work through a Christian book. Some are designed specifically for the period of Lent. It takes a good number of days to create a habit and having 40 days to start daily devotionals and reading of The Word will set you up for a good habit that can continue through life.
Start developing your prayer life
The point of Lent is to focus on God, and it’s a great opportunity to look at how prayer can grow your relationship with God. A relationship requires communication. It will only develop if you make an effort to communicate and intentionally spend time in prayer. Perhaps you could start a prayer diary, a weekly prayer list, pray for a different family member each day, or pick out a country in the world and pray for that place?
There are plenty of ways to keep prayer fresh and the more you pray, the more you’ll want to pray. Just as in any relationship, the more you talk, the more you get to know each other and want to spend time with each other.
Start spending more time with God
Use this time of Lent to grow closer to God. Rather than giving things up to focus on God, you can try to manage your time to create some windows of opportunity. Maybe that means getting up 15 minutes earlier to start your day off with the Lord, or maybe you could start doing a daily prayer walk, or perhaps on your commute or while cooking or eating you could listen to a sermon instead of listening to an audiobook or watching the latest soap.
You will never regret time spent with God – it’s priceless and so valuable. The more that you invest and spend time with God, the more you will understand God and radiate his love. Who knows who you will bless from it?
Start committing to church and fellowship
Perhaps you’ve struggled to form a regular habit of going to church. Things get in the way, tiredness kicks in or maybe you’ve not spent time finding a church you feel at home in.
Fellowship is a vital part of being a Christian – it can be a gift to be built up by others, accountable to others, and to find community. Lent is a perfect time to explore again and look at how you could establish yourself more fully in a church.
If you’ve been going sporadically, maybe this is a time to get to know people within the church, join in with the tea and coffee after the service, maybe invite some people over for dinner, or join a home group.
If you’re not a part of a church at all, Lent is a good time to find one. Take time to research, seek out, and visit and look for a warm welcome.
Start reaching out
Lent is a great time to start connecting with others. You could reconnect with old friends – even rekindle a friendship – by wishing them a Happy Easter. You could make new connections too: start being brave and go out of your comfort zone to meet new people. This could be the time to start dating – making a fresh start, and writing a new chapter.
Start evaluating your priorities
Is something stopping you from putting God first? Do you spend too much time distracted – maybe on social media or gaming? Is work taking you away from your devotionals? Is sport taking the place of church on Sundays? It can be a struggle to balance responsibilities but sometimes other things creep in too. Be brave, take a good look at your life, and be honest with yourself.
This could be a time to start time managing and spring cleaning your life – declutter anything that is taking you away from prioritising God. What can you ‘throw away’? And what can you start to do to make sure that you are consciously putting God first?
Lent can be an exciting time of new possibilities and a fresh take on your relationship with God and with others. God as our father wants to spend time with us. Lent offers us a great to time to help cherish that and allow that relationship to grow. Maybe it’s time to revolutionise your thinking – to stop giving up in order to start allowing God to be number one in our lives!
What faith enhancing things could you start this Lent?
Read more about Lent on the Christian Connection blog: ‘This Lent, don’t give up‘ and ‘Single during Lent? 7 surprising things to give up‘
